I do not own Chaotic nor anything related to it. It belongs to TCDigital.

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The One at Fault

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Time 14:

It's the afternoon. Work at the dew farm went more smoothly than usual. Nothing like the promise of a party to improve morale. After work I headed to Shasta's bar, which is, for the first time I can remember, empty.

"You left while he was reading the letters?" Shasta asks incredulously. "You should have stayed!"

Oh yeah. Shasta's also rather upset with me.

"It, er, seemed like a good idea to let him have his space..." I mumble.

Shasta turns around and throws up his arms. "You could have given him space without leaving! Here I was thinking that you were intelligent!"

I bite my lower lip and cringe. "I have the same thoughts about myself sometimes."

Shasta sighs and sits back down. "I guess we have to hope what you did say gets through to him."

"Sorry..." I say quietly.

Shasta leans back in the chair. "Yeah... so am I. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten angry like that."

I can't help but crack a smile. "That was you getting angry?"

I see the corners of Shasta's mouth twitch. "Yes... it was..." He leans forward and rests his arms on the table. "Well, I guess it'll be easier to talk to him now when the time comes."

There's awkward silence for a while. I decide to break it. "So, no customers?"

"Actually, we're not even open," Shasta responds. "The kitchens are busy preparing for the celebration."

"Your bar is catering?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Shasta waves a hand around. "Every kitchen is catering. There's a whole city to feed."

"You're getting paid for this, right?" I ask.

Shasta gives me an exasperated look. "...Yes. I thought that was obvious."

I cringe. "Sorry, that just sort of slipped out." I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I know you're closed, but could I maybe buy a cup of kainekot?"

"They're already packed up, sorry." Shasta stands up. "I can check what isn't pack up yet."

I nod. "Thanks."

Shasta heads around the counter and into the kitchens. I hear someone walk through the door. I wave my hand without turning around. "They're closed, but maybe Shasta can grab something for you."

A voice behind me says. "I want you to stand up and walk out of here."

I turn around in my seat. There's a Human in front of the doorway. He's pointing a cyclance at me.

I slowly raise my hands. "...Hi."

The Human shakes the cyclance slightly. "The only reason you're not dead yet is because I want answers. Leave the building and stay in front of me."

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The Human guides me into an alley. "Sit down. Back against the wall."

I sit down.

The Human steps around so he's in front of me, still keeping the cyclance pointed at my chest. It's gold in color, looking almost like a metal spear, except the point is hollow and sparking with electricity.

"My name is Robert," the Human says. "I'm thirty years old, and back on Earth I was a mechanic. I was recently divorced, and my wife took custody of the children."

I blink. "Um, hello Robert. My name is-"

Robert cuts me off. "Michael. You recently celebrated you forty-seventh birthday here, which would make you two days older than twenty-three and a half years old back on Earth."

...Huh. "How did you-?"

"I'm not finished," Robert says. "Around two months ago, however many thousand people were dropped into this world Perim. You can divide most of them into two group. First, the people who had no idea about all of this, those who hadn't watched the show or played the game. I was one of those."

Um... "And the-"

Robert interrupts me again. "The other group, the people who did know about Perim. You should have been a part of that group, judging by how you knew so much about the world when you arrived."

...I don't like where this is going.

Robert crouches down, still aiming the cyclance at me. "But you don't fit neatly into either group. Not even a day had passed since we arrived, and you'd already become acquaintances with some very important Mipedians. Maliph and Malvadine from the royal guard, Theb-sarr and Mudeenu from the royal family. Okay, I admit that Mudeenu isn't your friend, but my point still stands."

I glance between the cyclance and Robert's eyes. "Well, I'm not getting your point."

Robert grits his teeth. "You were far too calm! People have been watching you, Michael, and you're acting very strange. We discovered from the throne guard that your conversation with the king sounded rehearsed, and you bee-lined for Maliph when you saw him, like it was part of some elaborate plan."

Crap, crap, crap!

Robert stands up and points the cyclance at my face. "My question, Michael, is this. Did you know you were coming to Perim?"

I'm silent for a few seconds. Then I quietly respond, "Yes..."

Robert's hands clench on the cyclance. "Did you know where in Perim you were going to end up?"

My heart is pounding. "Yes."

Robert bares his teeth and hisses, "Are you the reason we're all stuck in Perim?"

I look into Robert's eyes. "No."

Robert blinks. "You're lying."

I shake my head. "I'm not."

Robert presses the point of the cyclance to my chest. "Then how did you know all of this? How did you make your plans? You have to have been the one who sent us here!"

This is not good. I can't tell the truth about what's going on. Well, actually I can, but... No, I don't know how he'll react.

...Maybe it's just time to die?

No. I'm not going to start all of this from scratch. I don't know if I'll be able to do all of this correctly a second time around.

I glare at Robert. "I can tell you this. Something about all of this is my fault, but I did not bring any of you with me to Perim."

"You're saying you're not the one who trapped us here?" Robert asks incredulously. "Bulls***."

"No, I'm saying I'm not intentionally doing it." Don't choke now, Michael. "If I had my way, the only Humans to come here would be the ones who wanted to come."

"So you are the mastermind behind all of this," Robert growls. The sparks around the cyclance's tip glow brighter, and I feel small shocks pass through me as several leap from the weapon to my chest.

"You aren't listening!" I shout. "I didn't want you here! Sometimes I don't want to be here either! You want to know if it's my fault? Yes and no!"

Well, that could have come out better. I clench my eyes shut. "I'm sick of having to start over every time I die..."

Robert's eyes widen. "What did you say?"

I don't get the chance to answer. A green light flies from the main road and hits Robert, and he's suddenly frozen, enveloped by a green light. I scramble sideways, away from the cyclance. The only part of Robert that moves is his eyes, which turn to watch me move away.

"Michael," a familiar voice asks, "are you hurt?"

I turn to the voice. Sett's voice. With him is Shasta, as well as several soldiers I'd seen at the prison.

"Sett!" I grin. "You decided to give yourself another chance!"

Everyone stares at me. Sett slowly says, "Well, yes, but I think we have a more pressing issue." He looks behind me. "He attacked you."

"And he's probably going to go to prison for it," I say with a shrug.

Shasta sputters, "Are you all right? You're awfully calm for someone who just dodged death."

Time to lie. "I'm feeling a little delirious, actually, but I think it will go away by the time the celebration starts. I'll be fine."

I feel everyone stare at me as I walk away. I also feel a deep pit in my stomach. It's a familiar feeling, the same as when I pretended to be royalty. It feels like my comfortable life is about to vanish, that everything's going to start crashing down at any time.

I hope I'm ready when it happens.

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Act I: Survival is complete!

Act II: Ascension is coming!

Up next: The Empty Chair

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Like I said before, Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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